More than 10,000 Google employees could be in line for low performance reviews, potentially giving the company an excuse to trim its headcount.
Google introduced a new performance review tool earlier this year, named GRAD, which changes how employees are rated on their work. Under the new system, 6% of employees could receive a bad rating, up from 2% in the previous rating system.
Based on the company's latest headcount numbers, that would account for roughly 11,000 employees at the company if teams are to follow the expected ratings distribution, which was viewed by Insider.
With industry layoffs hitting Meta, Amazon, and other tech companies, Google employees are growing anxious that they might be next in line. The company has traditionally avoided widespread layoffs, and some staff told Insider they are worried Google will used performance-based attrition to reduce headcount and cut costs.
These low scores could give the company cause to put employees on performance review plans, before showing them the door.
Now, even a "moderate impact" review – the second-lowest score – means the employee "was not consistently at the level/standards expected" for their role, according to internal guidelines reviewed by Insider. The guidelines note that these distributions should not be forced, but that the company expects to "roughly meet" them. It notes that there may be more variation in orgs with fewer than 5,000 staff.
A Google spokesperson told Insider: "Earlier this year, we launched Googler Reviews and Development (GRAD) to help employee development, coaching, learning and career progression throughout the year. The new system helps establish clear expectations and provide employees with regular feedback."
In recent weeks, employees have been invited to "support check-in" sessions with their managers. According to internal documents viewed by Insider, managers are required to have these check-ins before they can assign either of the two lowest ratings to staff. Insider previously reported that managers had been asked to hit a minimum number of check-ins with staff.
"Performance plans are the next step if folks don't respond to the check-ins," a person familiar with the changes said.
This week, activist investor TCI Fund Management called on Google to reduce its headcount, and one analyst said that performance-based attrition won't be enough, calling on the company to take more drastic action.
For now, Google employees are meme-ing through it.
Are you a Google employee with a tip?
Contact reporter Hugh Langley at hlangley@protonmail.com or on the encrypted messaging apps Signal and Telegram at +1 (628) 228-1836.
Contact reporter Tom Dotan via email at tdotan@insider.com or Twitter DM at @cityofthetown.
Contact reporter Rosalie Chan via email at rmchan@insider.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, or Telegram at @rosaliechan.
